In an anthropomorphic world, a young skunk named Regina feels called by an unknown force to stop the evil brewing in the mountains, soon finding herself entangled in a web of lies and hypocrisy that could either save her world or destroy it.

"Hear
us out, from the depths of our sanctums. You must seek us out from
our respective resting places and bring us together to repel the evil
that is brooding in the mountains…

"Please...
we beg of you. Evil is lurking in the shadows, and unless we are
brought together by one of a pure heart, the clutches of evil will
forever bind us together, draining our power for the use of turmoil
and despair.

"...
Find us ... please, find us."

Regina
Lepue slowly awoke to the sounds of the vast ocean crashing together
outside her window. The young skunk clenched her eyes tight and
reopened them, before slowly dragging herself out of bed to look out
the window. The sun's morning rays always washed over Shartapus
beach so beautifully this time of year.

"-In
other news, Prime Minister Zoot Lablanche, the leading man of the
world-renowned Alliance Army, spoke last night at a rally for solving
hunger in the third-world provinces. He was very optimistic
about giving a billion Teg to charity, to help children get
education, and food," said a news reporter's voice from the
television set Regina was half-paying attention to as she made
breakfast.

Next
on the TV screen came a small video of a large, fat human, with
brown, wavy hair, wearing black and purple attire, with a red robe
draped from his shoulders. Around his arm, clung a thick, red band,
with a large, yellow "A" in the middle.

Regina
clicked off the television set and shuffled into the seat of her
small kitchen table, before leaning over her bowl of cereal. She
stared at the blank wall ahead of her, her mind wandering idly while
she shoveled spoonful after spoonful into her mouth. The dream she
had wasn't something that surprised her in the least, though a deep
sense of curiosity had clouded over her mind for a few months now,
when she first began having the reoccurring phantasm.

She wondered
who exactly could be trying to contact her, and how she was supposed
to be able to help this person. It wasn't like she was a super hero
or anything – just a nurse in Altas Regional Hospital.

Regina's
train of thought suddenly fluttered into the back of her mind when
the phone rang.

"Hello?"
she asked slowly, still half plagued by sleep.

"Regina,
where the Hell are you? I've been waiting for well over fifteen
minutes!"

Regina
balanced the phone against her jaw and shoulder as she slowly swirled
her spoon around in her cereal bowl. "…Maybe. I'm sorry, Dwain
– I really am. I had a late night at work."

"Excuses.
Always excuses with you. Do you need me to pick you up?"

"No,"
Regina sighed. "I'll see you in a few minutes. I love - "

"Yeah,
bye."

Click.

Regina
blinked and slowly pulled the phone away from her ear. It made her
blood boil to know her fiancée
was such an ass, but she never had the guts to end it with him –
Dwain had been Regina's first real relationship, and if she lost
him, she would have been so scared of never being able to find
someone else. Regina knew she could be stuck with Dwain the rest of
her life – even if he did treat her poorly – but loneliness can
kill a person.

"Well
here she finally comes!" a tall, yellow hedgehog, remarked
sarcastically from his outdoor table at a restaurant as he saw Regina
come towards him at a fast pace. He wore a black bodysuit with a
massive, purple "X" coming down from his shoulders, and around
his waist, to meet again at his shoulders – the uniform of The
Alliance government offices

"Hi,
Dwain," Regina said quickly.

"C'mere,
babe," Dwain purred, and brought her close for a deep, lingering
kiss. "I already ordered for you." The two of them sat across
from each other and waited patiently. Dwain stretched a bit and eyed
Regina. "Work's a killer, yanno?"

Regina nodded
slowly. "Yes. I know what you mean."

"No you
don't," Dwain laughed softly. "What's so hard about checking
up on patients every hour? Nothin'. Anyway. Work's been really
tough lately. I have to get ready for my trip to Garia, and Prime
Minister Lablanche is all out on this whole new project for his army.
I don't quite understand it though – An army that keeps the
peace. That's like saying a jelly doughnut tastes like a bagel –
or something."

Regina tried
desperately to ignore Dwain's horrible comparison, and just gave
him a small smile and a nod. "Uh – how is work, anyway? I mean –
what else is going on?"

"You know I
can't tell you that, Regina," Dwain frowned. "That's
confidential. I'd be breaking the law if I told you anything that's
top secret. It's none of your business."

"Stop
talking to me like I'm a child," Regina scowled. "And it is so
my business. If you and I are gonna be getting married soon, I have a
right to know what's going on in your job life."

Dwain
shrugged at her and smiled at the waitress who brought out a plate
for Regina, who looked over at her fiancée with a confused
expression. "What about you?" she asked.

"I already
ate. I couldn't wait for you," Dwain said, getting up. "I gotta
get back to work. See ya." He kissed Regina on the cheek and left
her sitting there, still completely baffled.

Regina
sighed and slid back her chair. She wasn't all that hungry anyway –
she only went to be with Dwain, but because of his abrupt departure,
a walk to clear her head seemed a good idea.

For
a place with "City" at the end of it, Altas wasn't all that
big. The community was built on hills, mostly, one half surrounded by
a crescent moon-shaped forest, while the other half sat on a slight
cliff, where Sharktopus Beach snuggly sat below. Many foreigners
confused Altas for a port city, due to its settlement on the Gabriel
Sea.

Regina soon
found herself trailing into the depths of Altas Forest. She came here
often over the span of her life to escape her sad and pathetic
reality. A lot of the time she would come to the forest and find a
secluded place to break down emotionally – even though she hated to
feel sorry for herself. But there seemed to be nothing else she could
have done; she was a very quiet person, was never really outgoing
towards people, and Dwain never referred to her as "beautiful" or
"pretty". It was always "babe", or something crude.

"I
need to end it with him," Regina decided finally as she gazed out
across a small brook beside her. She sat down heavily on a tree
stump, picked up a nearby branch and began to swirl it around in the
water. "I need to get a transfer, and start anew. I need a clean
slate." But as she thought it over, the whole idea seemed to
implode on itself. Regina wasn't exactly the richest person in the
world, and buying a whole new house in a whole new city, after being
transferred to a whole new hospital, really wouldn't work out.

She
strolled deeper into the forest, soon finding herself following a
narrow path she had never paid attention to before. A light shiver
creeped down her spine, and she lifted her arms to hug herself as the
trees seemed to lurch forward menacingly, while a breeze fluttered
through their leaves.

Regina's
mind soon wandered off as she walked aimlessly down the dirt path.
Thoughts of red clouds against black skies entered her mind.
Warriors, sitting upon horses with their swords drawn came to her
next, followed by images of a male skunk, dressed in tattered
clothes. He held a sword of his own at his side, and let out a shout
as he jumped in front of another skunk – his wife, before the
warriors were upon them.

Screams
of Regina's past echoed in her ears, and she shivered a second
time. She hated thinking about the past … Especially that past. She
didn't have to think about it long though, for her train of thought
diminished as she heard a light clomping in the distance. Regina
lifted her head and looked down the narrow path to where the sound
was coming from to see a wild cloud of dust coming right at her,
following a group of men in emerald and black armour, riding on
horseback.

Regina
glanced around quickly, and to her dismay, she found there was no way
to get out of the path of the speeding horsemen, who obviously didn't
realize – or care, rather – that the dirt road they were coming
to would thin out into a single-file pathway. Regina moved to the
side as best she could, but even that wasn't enough. The horsemen
drew nearer at a rapid rate, and before she knew it, they could have
been upon her.

But
they weren't.

Regina
looked up the nose of a smelly, black steed, which rudely snorted hot
breath into her face from its nasal passages.

"You!
Get out of the middle of the road!" the General of the horsemen,
and rider of the horse Regina had met, demanded in a firm, yet rather
feminine voice.

"I
– I can't," Regina said, backing away slowly. "This road is
made for single-file riding, not branched out flanks, like yours.
There's no way I can get out of the way."

The
General looked to the right, then to the left, and back down at
Regina. "All I see is forest. I'm sure if you climb up on either
edge of the path way YOU
CAN GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

"Help me…"

Regina
let out a light gasp.

"Help me…"

The
voice echoed in her mind once more, and guided her attention to one
of the horsemen's saddle-packs.

"This
is stupid," the General spat and leapt off the horse, revealing a
female, and noted by the black, fluffed tail whipping behind, the
form of a fox. "This is your final warning," she declared while
drawing a long broadsword. "You get out of my damn way, or I'll
cut you down on the spot. You hear me?"

Regina
blinked and looked back at the General, almost forgetting she was
ever there – the presence of the person in dire need had made
itself strongly acknowledged to her.

"I
don't think that will be very necessary, General Blacktail," said
a new voice from behind the soldiers. Everyone turned to see who had
interrupted the General's anger; a tall, gray-cloaked animal stood
quite a few feet from behind the horses, carrying a large pack on his
back, and holding a long, gnarled walking-staff. His hood drooped
over his face, only allowing his white muzzle to poke through.

General
Blacktail turned her back on Regina, starting towards the cloaked
animal. "What do you want this time, old man?" she growled.
"Can't you see that I'm more than a little busy? I'm not in
the mood for your games."

The
cloaked animal shrugged. "I just don't think you should harm
someone who didn't know you were in such a hurry to get back to
camp. I think you should apologize."

The
soldiers all roared with laughter, and General Blacktail looked even
more furious than before. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't
kill you and the girl right
now!"

"Because,"
the cloaked animal replied, "That would be manslaughter, and
killing innocents purposely is treason in this land, is it not?"

The
General scowled and sheathed her sword. "Damn you, old man. I've
wasted enough time." She turned slowly and clamboured up onto her
horse. "I do hope this is the last time we meet – because if you
pop up out of nowhere again, I will
take your head!" And with that, the group of horsemen rode
single-file down the road, and once past Regina, branched out again
and sped into the darkness of the wilderness.

"She's
been saying that for years. 'I'll take your head, I'll take
your head.' She never does though," the cloaked animal said aloud
as he made himself comfortable on the grass, stretching his legs out.

Regina
stared at him for a long moment, and slowly began to step towards
him. "Th-thank you, kind sir…"

The
cloaked animal looked up at Regina and pulled his hood back,
revealing that he, too, was a black fox and not old, as General
Blacktail had called him.

Regina's
eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. Her rescuer's gray eyes were
almost the same shade as his cloak, and they stared at her like
daggers, piercing into her heart. "You're not old at all … What
are you – in your early twenties, it looks."

The
black fox smiled and gave Regina a light nod. "Somewhere around
there. The General is just snide with me. She and I know each other
very well. And, you're welcome." He paused for a moment. "What's
you're name?"

"R-Regina
Lepue…"

The
black fox smiled widely. "Well, R-Regina, I'm Timmons." He got
up slowly and shifted his pack over his shoulders with a heavy grunt,
then began to walk towards the path Regina had come from. "It was a
pleasure meeting you."

Timmons
blinked. "I expect no payment from you. I just did what any
right-minded civilian would do. I hope." He turned on one heel
resumed his onward journey.

"I
live in Altas!" Regina said suddenly. "…Uh … Please. Let me
at least make you a meal. You look like you haven't eaten in days."

Timmons
stopped again and turned to face Regina. "…That, my dear, would
be truly appreciated."

"So, where
are you from?" Regina asked from the kitchen. She was stirring a
large pot of homemade mushroom soup. Timmons was wandering around the
living room, looking at the framed pictures and decorations.

"I'm from
Durnham," he replied loudly so Regina could hear. "I left there
when I was about five, and have been traveling since. I've been all
over Vida, and still, there is much to explore. The snows of Zeeph,
the exotic festivals of Capernaum … With all the time I have, I'd
like to see it all."

Regina smiled
at Timmons's words and reached forward to turn off the stove. "That
sounds so nice. I wish I could do something like that. I'd love to
see the world." She poured two bowls full of soup and reached into
the cutlery drawer to retrieve spoons.

"Then why
don't you?" Timmons asked, looking at the skunk from where he
was.

She shrugged
and set both bowls on the kitchen table. "Work, mainly. Today's
been the first day off I've had in like, three months. It's crazy
this time of year, with tourists, and school starting… There are a
lot more carriage and horseback accidents in the summer than ever. In
the winter, everyone just walks everywhere."

Timmons
nodded and came to the kitchen to seat himself. Not yet had he taken
his cloak off.

Regina smiled
at him softly and leaned over her bowl of soup. "I hope you like
it…"

"I'm sure
I will," Timmons beamed before taking in a spoonful. And he was
right. He consumed nearly three bowls of mushroom soup, all so fast
compared to Regina, who didn't even get halfway through her first
helping.

"What's
it like to travel?" Regina asked after she finished.

"Very long,
but the sore heels in the end are worth all the miles walked."
Timmons said.

"I've
been considering doing something like what you are…" Regina told
him shyly. "I did a lot of thinking before we ran into each other,
and I really want to travel, I think."

"You
should!" Timmons smiled, just before the phone rang.

Regina nodded
and got up to grab the cordless phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, babe,
it's me."

Regina
frowned slightly. "Hi, Dwain."

"What are
you doing later tonight? I get off work in like, an hour."

"I dunno. I
haven't thought about it yet. Why?"

"I wanna
take you out to this great restaurant I found. It's like, so
whacked. You need to check it out with me."

Regina
watched as Timmons took both plates to the sink and pushed the chairs
in politely before heading into the next room to give Regina some
privacy. "I don't know, Dwain … I have a guest over, and - "

Regina
growled. "I gotta go. Bye." She marched into the living room and
looked at Timmons. "Let's go."

"Where?"
the black fox blinked, holding one of the framed photographs in a
paw.

"Anywhere.
I don't care where. I want to go with you. I've had it with this
place."

"But I'm
a complete stranger to you. Please, Regina, think this out,"
Timmons stated, trying to sound as calm as possible. "Don't you
think you're being a tad rash?"

"Maybe,"
Regina grumbled as she walked down the hall and to her bedroom. She
pulled a backpack from under her bed and began stuffing it with
clothes and toiletries. "But anywhere is better than here. I swear
it is."

Timmons
blinked again and walked over to the sink to rinse out the bowls. If
no one was going to be around to wash them, the house would be filled
with flies in just a week.

Regina
marched out with her backpack slung over one shoulder. "All right.
Let's go," she said. "Right now. I don't care if you're a
stranger – you've been more kind to me than this stupid town ever
was."

Timmons
stared at her. "Are you sure now? I don't want anything to happen
to you."

"Yes!
I'm sure!" Regina exclaimed.

Timmons
chewed on his bottom lip, and after a moment, nodded. "Well. All
right then, if this is what you really want to do – but I'm
warning you. Things could happen on this journey that could change
you forever, Regina."

Regina
stepped out onto the front porch of her beach house and locked the
door after her guest. "That's fine with me, Timmons, I could use
a little backbone and independence, anyway. And with that, I'll
start by calling you 'Tim'."

Timmons
laughed softly. "All right then, 'Regi'."

"Where are
we headed?" Regina asked as she and Timmons passed by a carriage.
Timmons shrugged lightly. "Don't know. I find that it always
helps to have a goal in mind – and that always seems to help put me
in the right direction – literally."

Regina
laughed softly at this, and looked at Timmons with a smile. "What's
your goal, Tim?"

The black fox
shrugged again and returned the smile. "What's yours?"

"I don't
know," Regina said with consideration. "Now that you ask, maybe …
well… I did say I wanted to get some backbone and learn to be more
independent, but is that too miniscule, do you think?"

Timmons shook
his head no. "No goal is too miniscule, Regi. You can have whatever
goal in life you want, and hunt it down and succeed any way you can.
You can do that now. No one can stop you."

"There's
you," Regina replied.

Timmons
smirked. "I may not always be at your side though. Besides, how do
you know that I'm trustworthy? You don't even know me."

"We'll
have plenty of time to get to know each other," Regina shrugged.

The two of
them crossed a semi-busy street, and continued walking on the other
side, towards the entrance of town. The event back in the forest
sparked a question in Regina's mind, and without really realizing
it, she thought it out loud.

"Why would
those Alliance horsemen come to Altas from the forest? Usually if you
were passing through, you would come right through the entrance –
wouldn't you?"

Timmons
looked at her for a moment. "To be honest, I thought the way we
came was
the entrance to Altas. Maybe they thought the same."

Regina shook
her head slowly. "I don't know about that. Being a part of The
Alliance Army says a lot about your intelligence and geographical
knowledge. And that General Blacktail seemed really smart, in just
the way she was handling her troops through the forest – from what
I saw, anyway. Meaning, they had to have had a map. They knew they
were coming through the back way of Altas."

"Strange,"
Timmons murmured.

"Why would
they be coming through the back way of Altas? Where would they be
coming from?"

"Maybe they
didn't want it known that they were passing through…"

The two of
them exchanged silent glances.

"Shall we
take a detour?" Regina asked, gesturing to the forest, which lay
over a hill of houses.

The sun was
just beginning to set when Timmons and Regina made it to the clearing
where they first met. To Regina, the trees seemed to have grown into
massive, maniacal creatures, with arms of many sharp fingers, but for
some reason, she felt safer with this near-stranger walking next to
her.

It wasn't
until fifteen minutes after this checkpoint that speech was made
aloud. It was Timmons who asked the question, and it threw Regina off
guard, but only because she had grown accustomed to the current
silence between them.

"Tell me
something about yourself, Regi,"

Regina
blinked slowly. "Like what?"

"I don't
know," Timmons shrugged. "Anything. Where did you grow up as a
child? Do you have any siblings? What's your favourite colour?"

Regina took
another glance at the sky and noticed that the first star of the
night had decided to come out and join the moon. "Well … I
basically grew up in Altas all my life. I'm an only child, so my
parents…" She broke off suddenly.

Timmons
tilted his head to the side. "Your parents…?"

"I
apologize," Regina murmured. "It's just that … My parents
died in the War of Ages…"

Timmons's
eyes grew sad. "I'm sorry to hear that. I remember the War of
Ages. Quite well. A stupid skirmish between two provinces that
evolved into a world-wide war. After. Zoot arrived out of nowhere to
glue Vida back together, and that's how he became Prime Minister."

"That's
right…" Regina remembered.

The two
resumed a silence as they walked.

"…Purple,"
Regina said suddenly.

"Pardon?"

"Purple
… it's my favourite colour."

Timmons
laughed. "I'm rather fond of the colour green, to be honest."

They stopped
for the night when it became too dark to see where the road was.
Regina gazed out into the trees, lighted quite dimly from the fire
Timmons was mending to. The wilderness seemed so quiet and peaceful
to Regina, and she remembered her father saying all the time that he
would have loved to own a farm with plenty of bush surrounding it.

She
sighed softly at the few memories she had left, but she forced
herself to shake the thoughts from her head.

"Tim?"

Timmons
looked up from prodding at the ashes in the makeshift fire-pit he
dug, a half-hour earlier. "Yes?"

"Do
you have any siblings?"

The
fox shifted into a half-sitting position and stared at Regina. "Well
… I do have a twin brother," there was a short pause before he
added, "But he died a long time ago."

"Oh,
I'm sorry…" Regina said softly as she sat down at the fire-pit,
across from Timmons.

"Don't
be," he assured. "You didn't know."

Regina
pulled her knees up against her chest, and she gazed into the fire.
Timmons drew back and sat cross-legged while prodding at the fire
with a stick every so often. The two travelers remained silent for
quite some time, until Timmons decided it was time to speak again.
"Tell me more about yourself, Regi."

Timmons
shrugged once more and gazed up at the moonlit sky. "What about
you?"

Regina
rubbed her shoulder idly as she gazed into the fire. "I'm a nurse
at Altas Regional Hopsital. I've worked there for a couple years
now … I work in the Intensive Care unit. It's not a very lovely
place."

"Mm."
Timmons nodded slowly.

"I
watch people die everyday," Regina continued. "And I hate myself
for it, because there's nothing I can do. There's absolutely
nothing I can do for them. And I go home at night and cry because of
it."

"Do
you sit with them?" Timmons asked.

"Yes
… And talk to them if they want."

"Then
that's all you need to do for them."

Regina
stared into the fire as she reflected upon Timmons' words. "I
suppose you're - "

"Quiet,"
Timmons said suddenly. Regina looked up to see him staring into the
darkness, ears twitching. "I hear something unwelcoming."

Regina opened
her mouth to reply when she too heard something. A twig behind her
snapped. She glanced over her shoulder but saw no movement from
behind the bushes.

"Stay
here." Timmons climbed to his feet and withdrew a sword from his
belt. Regina was struck by the weapon's ironic beauty: a white
leather hilt with a red tail attached at the bottom, and a long,
unstained, blade, which shone in the moonlight.

"What is
it, Tim?" Regina quietly asked.

"Whatever
it is, its scent is corrupt."

Another twig
snapped.

"Timmons…"
Regina shuddered.

"Get down!"
Timmons ordered, and with unmammal swiftness, he leaped over the
firepit and pinned Regina to the ground as a fox-like creature
barrelled through the bushes, and over them. It landed hard on all
fours, and made a U-turn to face the two travelers.

Regina
struggled underneath Timmons and poked her head out to make out what
the creature looked like as it stood upright. Its red fur contrasted
with the fire, and as it turned to face the travelers, Regina was
horrified to find that its eyes were vacant and yellow, missing all
attributes of pupils.

The creature
let out a low snarl as it bared its teeth, before it leapt at Timmons
and Regina, its razor-sharp claws ready to shred through flesh.

Regina
screamed.

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